The electoral commission says 174,000 people registered as voters in the tiny nation in the horn of Africa started casting their votes in 442 polling centers all over the country early hours in the morning.

The campaigns has witnessed war of words between the ruling coalition parties and the opposition.

President Ismail Omar Gelle has warned the Djiboutians to vote for the opposition accusing them of serving foreign interests.

“There are some spoilers in their ranks, some of them are calling Eritrea to over-throw the government and some of them returned from Europe to serve foreign interests, they are covering up their hidden intentions in the election” said Mr. Gelle.

Opposition leaders are firing back and blamed the president of being responsible the slow down in the country’s growth, accusing him of being an autocratic ruler.

Omar Elmi Khayrre one of the opposition parliamentary contenders has denied any wrong doing saying they have conducted peaceful campaigns in the country and pledged to increase the growth rate of the country's development if they were elected.

Djibouti's president, Ismail Omar Gelle, took over the country from the late president Hassan Gouled Abtidon in 1999 and amended the constitution in 2010 to allow him to stand for a third term.